IPL: 5 Myths In The Tournament Which The Fans Believed To Be True

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has now become a crucial event for the board and a much-anticipated one for the fans. It has been 13 – and a half now – seasons since the IPL took the world by a storm. The tournament sends the fans in a frenzy often with its tight contests.

Also, however, the fans have been made to believe some incorrect facts in relation to the tournament, its players, and teams. Today, we bust some of them.

IPL: 5 Myths In The Tournament Which The Fans Believed To Be True

Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were banned for match-fixing

The Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were banned in the IPL for a period of 2 years, missing out on the 2016 and 2017 seasons; Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiant were added for a couple of seasons.

A major portion of fans believes that both sides were banned for match-fixing. However, that is not the case. They were banned because their owners Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra were caught in illegal betting and Spot-fixing activities during the 2013 season, not match-fixing.

Both the owners were banned for life from being involved in any cricket matches conducted by the BCCI.

Match-fixing and Spot-fixing aren’t the same. Spot-fixing is when you defraud bookmakers by a player taking a pre-arranged action to fix the result of that specific event; match-fixing is which the final result of a match is fixed by players or officials.

Mumbai Indians are helped by the Umpires

The Mumbai Indians are the most successful franchise in the history of the IPL having bagged 5 titles, all under Rohit Sharma, two more than the next best CSK. The thought that Mumbai has been aided by the umpires is nothing but a farce.

Apart from being the most successful team on the field, which is the main reason for the envy of fans of other teams, their owners, the Ambani family’s opulence – the most in the entire country – is also a major reason for such myths some fans claim on social media.

To put it bluntly: The Mumbai Indians have 5 IPL titles – and 2 Champions League trophies – in their cabinet is because they have so good in the last 9 years, and they deserve it completely.

Sunrises Hyderabad and Deccan Chargers are one and the same team

Are they? No. Deccan Chargers participated in the first 5 seasons of the IPL, from 2008 to 2012. Under the captaincy of Adam Gilchrist, they won the title in 2009. The franchise was then terminated owing to the financial problems of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, the owner of the side.

It was then that The Sun TV Network won the bid for the Hyderabad franchise, and announced the new side we know as Sunrisers Hyderabad from the 2013 season. Coincidentally, it was another Australian opener David Warner who marches the team to the title win in 2016.

So, it should now be clear that DC and SRH are completely different teams – they just represented the same city. The fact that some players from the Chargers were transferred to the Sunrisers is what led people to think they are the same.

Chris Morris is the highest-paid IPL player

Cannot blame people much on this one: Chris Morris isn’t the highest-paid player in the IPL. The moment the Rajasthan Royals(RR) purchased him for a whopping Rs 16.25 crore in the IPL 2021 auction, headlines with the words “most expensive” ran like wildfire on the internet, which made people think that the South African all-rounder is the one who earns most from an IPL contract.

However, he is not. It is none other than the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, Virat Kohli, who makes the most money from an IPL contract. Morris is the most expensive pick ever at the auction, but Kohli is been paid Rs 17 crore per season from the 2018 IPL, 2 crores more than the highest retention price. The mega-auction is slated for ahead of next season’s IPL, and it would be interesting to see if Kohli’s contract price gets even higher!

IPL is fixed!

Oh common! Anyone who thinks or claims to be sure that the IPL is fixed should just try practicing the boundary catches – the freakish, but now a norm ones.

But, to look at the reason for such “IPL is fixed” opinions on social media is that the matches often tend to go close; about every third is a close encounter in the IPL, especially in the past few seasons there has been an increase in the number of super-overs; last season we even got to witness a double super over, between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings).

The major reason for such tight contests is that, unlike other sports, say Football, all the teams in the IPL have been allowed to spend the same amount of money to build the team. Hence the sides are evenly matched, which makes the game closer, and exciting for the viewers.

Nonetheless, people shouldn’t think of such rubbish talks, and instead, just enjoy the game.

Also Read: Indian Batting Lineup Is Deep Now, It Will Definitely Put England On Back Foot In Limited-Overs Series, Says Mithali Raj